Income-tas Supporters Win Victories

Delegate Primary Votes Favor Harper, Lawlor

Wage Tax Shows Power In Delegate Race

May 20, 1992|By LARRY WILLIAMS; Capitol Bureau Chief

An obscure ritual of Connecticut politics, the delegate primary, became an unexpected proving ground for the state income tax Tuesday as two incumbent legislators and three challengers who support the tax swept to victory.

In some of the 11 primaries, the income tax was not an issue, but in every clash between a supporter and an opponent, the backer of the income tax won.

FOR THE RECORD - State Sen. Gary a. Hale, D-Ansonia, has decided not to seek re-election for family reasons. An incorrect reason was given in a Page 1 story Wednesday.

"The governor is very pleased," said a spokesman for Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr., who called one of the victors -- Sen. Joseph H. Harper Jr., D-New Britain -- to congratulate him.

Harper and Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven, beat back strong challenges by candidates who hoped their income-tax votes last August could be used to turn them out of office.

And Rep. Joseph S. Raia, D-New Britain, who opposed the income tax that hot summer day, lost the Democratic nomination in the 23rd House District to an income-tax supporter, Theresa Gerratana.

In Hamden, pro-income tax candidate Nancy Beals sewed up the Democratic nomination in the 88th House District, jeopardizing the re-election chances of incumbent Rep. William V. Gambardella, D-North Haven, an income-tax opponent.

And in Bristol and Plymouth, Tom Colapietro, a labor leader active in the pro-income tax lobbying drive last year, assured himself the Democratic nomination for an open seat in the 31st Senate District.

Harper, a major force at the Capitol, had been expected to win, but Lawlor was thought to be in serious trouble.

In fact, Tom Scott, the anti-income tax leader who helped Lawlor's challenger, began rejoicing in Lawlor's defeat several days ago.

Tuesday night, a more subdued Scott downplayed the significance of the pro-income tax sweep, saying it reflected the sentiments of a narrow group of people -- the activist Democrats who voted in the

delegate primaries.

"My hope is that income-tax supporters will read into this that they can become complacent," Scott said. "That will make our job much easier."

He predicted pro-income tax candidates will do poorly in the next round of primaries in September, when voter turnouts are certain to be higher, and in the general elections in November.

On the other side, Ethan Rome, a spokesman for the Taxpayers Alliance to Serve Connecticut, a pro-income tax group, called the outcome "a stunning defeat for [income tax] repeal forces across the state."

The Lawlor race was key, Rome said, because Scott and the challenge candidate, Kenneth J. Barber Jr., "did everything they could to frame this debate as a referendum on the income tax."

Lawlor said the resultproved that anti-income tax sloganeering was not enough to win a campaign.

He said that when Barber and Scott were unable to answer voters' questions about what they would enact in place of the income tax, voters rejected them.

"The voters are not accepting slogans for answers. I think that's great," Lawlor said.

Beals, chairwoman of the Hamden Board of Education and a board member of Taxpayers Alliance to Serve Connecticut, said, "The people that I talked to about the income tax really agreed with my position, most of them."

Still, she said, other issues -- a regional mall proposed for Hamden, for example -- were factors in the race.

Gambardella, the incumbent, did not campaign against Beals, whose challenge was mounted only in Hamden against an uncommitted slate of delegates. Her victory gives her a majority of the convention delegates, and assures that Gambardella cannot keep his seat without a September primary.

Nowhere was the celebration more enthusiastic -- nor the outcome more closely watched -- than in the 6th Senate District, where Harper, a 14-year veteran and co-chairman of the appropriations committee, faced a determined challenge by New Britain Alderman Thomas A. Bozek.

Harper had the campaign help of Weicker -- the governor made two appearances in town -- and of many of his Democratic Senate colleagues, who manned the phones Tuesday afternoon to help get out the vote.

"I hope the message goes out that the governor and state legislature did the right thing," Harper said, referring to the income tax vote.

"I hope this victory is precedent-setting and helps my colleagues in the weeks and months ahead."

Also on hand at Harper headquarters was Senate President Pro Tem John B. Larson, D-East Hartford, who opposed the income tax but supported Harper.

"This was a significant, significant benchmark for Democrats. This was the race everyone was watching. We had other primaries today, but none was as significant," Larson said.

Clearly, Harper was the anti-income tax movement's most prized quarry -- and he got away.

The primary win gave Harper the backing of 35 of the 45 delegates to the July convention and just about -- but not quite -- wraps up the nomination.

The Tuesday primaries helped determine the loyalties of convention delegates, but the law allows another runoff in September pitting convention winners against losers supported by at least 20 percent of convention delegates.